On The Run
by StarsAboveUs
Summary: Prompt: AU : when Bracken sends his men to kill the Beckett family, 13 years old Kate survived. Trying to stay out of the radar, she's been living on the streets for a couple of years, until she gets arrested by Officer Castle for theft.
1. Chapter 1

Every night when Kate closes her eyes she's transported back to that night. Kate's parents had surprised her with take-out from her favorite Chinese place, and her mom had even stopped by the store to pick up ice cream. They had a fun night eating and playing games, and 13 year old Kate, although entering her rebellious phase, was happy to spend the time with her busy parents. After everything was cleaned up, Kate said goodnight to her parents and went to bed. The next thing she remembered was waking up for a drink of water and hearing strange noises in the hallway. After that, the rest of the night was a blur, but she remembers peeking out of her door, going to hide under the bed, and later being told by policemen that both her parents were dead.

She jolted awake from the memory, and it took her a few seconds to realize that she's not in any danger, but instead laying on a secluded bench in Central Park. After her parents death, Kate had been living on the streets trying to stay under the radar to avoid any further run-ins with Bracken's men. The first few weeks were tough, but with nothing to lose it wasn't long before Kate became an excellent liar and an even better thief.

Kate tried to fall back asleep, but her mind was still racing with thoughts of her parents and how much she missed them. After a short debate between her growling stomach and tired mind she decided to check out the local bodegas and see if she could get her hands on some food.

She walked out of the park and down a few side streets until her favorite corner store was in her sights. She tried to stay in the shadows as she made her way towards the store and was happy to see a late night drinking crowd shuffling through the door; it would make her job a lot easier.

Kate squeezed in after the guys, unnoticed, and made her way to the back of the store where they kept bags of chips and candy.

Just as she was slipping a bag of gummy bears into her pocket Kate heard a cough behind her. She whipped around with a defiant look in her eyes expecting one of the drunk guys to be there trying to hit on her. But what she found instead made her want to turn and run - a police officer, Officer Castle if his name tag was correct. She tried to walk past him without another glance, but no such luck.

"Excuse me miss," Officer Castle said, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop Kate in her tracks, "did you pay for that candy in your pocket?"

Kate really didn't want to spend the rest of the night in a holding cell so she looked up at Officer Castle with the full intention of apologizing,

"N-no, I'm sorry, it won't happen again," Kate stammered out as she put the gummy bears back on the shelf. She glanced up then, looking Officer Castle right in the eyes, almost daring him to say something else, but when she looked into his eyes she thought she saw a flash of empathy or worse, pity.

What happened next was even more surprising; Officer Castle reached into his pocket and Kate thought he was going to pull out cuffs to arrest her, but instead he pulled out a menu to an Indian restaurant down the street. "Would you like to get something to eat Kate?" he asked.

"How do you know my name?" Kate asked, panic rising in the back of her throat. If this was one of Bracken's men, there was no way she could escape.

The officer seemed to sense her fear and immediately explained - "I saw your picture all over the news a few years back when your parents were killed. Sorry by the way, from what I heard they were great people."

Kate relaxed a little then, but still anxious to get going she thanked Officer Castle and was about to leave when he repeated his earlier request. "I know you've been living on the streets, Kate. No one has seen or heard from you since that night. Let me help you just this once."

Kate was hesitant to spend any time around law enforcement given her current state, but she was hungry and Officer Castle seemed nice.

"I would love some dinner, thanks," she answered in a rush.

Officer Castle smiled then. "Lead the way," and he motioned towards the front of the store.

They made it to the Indian restaurant where Kate expected to eat and run, but Officer Castle, Rick, was charming and warm, and she thought she might be able to trust him. Rick told Kate all about his daughter who was about the same age, and he said he might know of a way he could protect her long term. Kate didn't want to get her hopes up too fast, but she thought this might be the start of something good.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate was breathless when she looked over her shoulder for cars as she ran furiously down the busy street. Her heart was beating fast as she burst through the front door of her building, getting a startled look from the doorman, and ran up the stairs to the top floor. Her pulse only started to slow once she was in the familiar surroundings of the Castle's loft.

"Kate!" Alexis started, but Kate cut her off.

"Quick, he's coming, is everything ready?" she asked in a hushed tone.

Alexis nodded and waved her hand, gesturing to all of the decorations and the banner hanging that they had made in honor of her father's birthday. "And my grandmother dropped off the cake on her way to the studio, and it looks awesome!" Alexis said excitedly, before Kate shushed her again.

"Ok, you ordered the Chinese food right?" Kate asked.

Alexis nodded. "It should be here any minute. And I got the table set and the candles in the cake."

"Good. And I got the present." Kate grinned as she pulled a small box out of her pocket, which she set on the table next to the cake.

Alexis flashed Kate a smile and both girls, giggling and shushing each other, flew around the loft making sure everything was perfect for Richard Castle's birthday.

Since Kate had moved into the loft a little over a year ago, Rick had noticed that her and Alexis had become very close friends, and he thought it was good for both of them. Alexis helped Kate catch up on her schoolwork once they got her reenrolled, and Kate is like the sister Alexis always wanted. Another girl in the loft to talk about boys and clothes, and whatever else Rick wasn't "cool enough to know about". Alexis and Kate came up with some crazy schemes when they were together, and more than once the girls immediately stopped talking and started blushing when Rick walked in the room. He thought raising one daughter alone would be hard enough, but two girls…he would have to worry about that another day.

Tonight was his birthday, and Rick was excited to get home after his long shift at the precinct to celebrate with his girls. He planned on whipping up a quick dinner, and then going out for ice cream but when he arrived at the loft he realized Alexis and Kate had different plans in mind.

As Rick opened the door to the loft, the first thing he noticed was the large decorated banner declaring his birthday. The second was that no one appeared to be home…until he closed the door and was greeted with a loud "surprise!" which was then followed by Alexis and Kate running out of the kitchen with huge grins on their faces.

Rick looked around the loft and took it all in; the decorations, the food, the cake. "Everything looks amazing girls, I can't believe you did this all for me."

"Well we know you've been working long hours at the precinct, so we wanted to do something nice for you," Kate said.

"And we even got you a present Dad!" Alexis announced excitedly.

"Oh really, I wonder what it could be," Rick asked in a teasing tone.

Rick took off his shoes, and they sat down at the table. Alexis handed him his present, which he slowly started opening, making a show of it, but when he finally got the box open he was speechless.

Inside the box was a pair of silver cufflinks with the Green Lantern logo engraved on them. Sophisticated and nerdy, just like him.

"Wow girls, I love them!" Excitement shined in his eyes as Rick tried to think of the next event when he would need to wear cufflinks.

"Grandma helped pay for them," Alexis said as she leaned in for a hug, "but Kate and I picked them out together."

It was then Rick noticed Kate standing off to the side, fidgeting with her hands behind her back. "What's up Kate?"

"I bought another present for you," she answered shyly. This got a questioning look from Alexis, but Rick just nodded encouragingly as she handed him what was behind her back.

When he saw what Kate set in his hands Rick's throat squeezed tight with emotion – it was a bag of gummy bears.

Alexis looked even more confused at this turn of events, but Rick understood. He pulled Kate in for a hug and their unspoken words said it all, Kate was home.


End file.
